ISLAMABAD: Buying continued at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Friday, with the benchmark KSE-100 Index gaining nearly 1,300 points to close at a new all-time high of 131,949.06.
Buying was observed in key sectors including automobile assemblers, cement, commercial banks, OMCs, and power generation. Index-heavy stocks, including HUBCO, SSGC, WAFI, HCAR, HBL, MCB, and MEBL, traded in the green.
At close, the benchmark index settled at 131,949.06, showing an increase of 1,262.41 points or 0.97%.
On Friday, a total of 733,079,943 shares were traded as compared to 899,849,566 shares on the last trading day, whereas the price of shares stood at PKR 34.942 billion against PKR 43.252 billion on the previous working day.
As many as 472 companies transacted their shares in the stock market, 256 of them recorded gains and 177 met losses, whereas the share price of 41 companies remained unchanged.
On Thursday, the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) extended its record-breaking rally, driven by positive policy developments. Investor sentiment was lifted by the government’s decisions to cut National Savings Scheme rates, lower industrial electricity tariffs, and fast-track the privatisation of state-owned enterprises.
The benchmark KSE-100 Index climbed 342 points, or 0.26%, to close at a new all-time high of 130,686.66 points.
Mixed performance in Asian markets
Despite Wall Street hitting record highs overnight, most Asian equity markets struggled on Friday. Investor caution prevailed ahead of a looming deadline next week for trade deals set by US President Donald Trump.
The US dollar gave back some of Thursday’s gains, with US markets closed for the week. Traders turned their focus to the implications of a massive spending bill expected to be signed by President Trump.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index edged up 0.3% as of 01:52 GMT after fluctuating between gains and losses in early trading.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slumped 1.3%, while mainland Chinese blue chips edged slightly lower.
